From Provider to Patient, Part 2: Karen Powell on Early Detection, Tough Choices, and Self-Advocacy
Karen Powell, a nurse practitioner at Memorial Sloan Kettering who specializes in breast cancer care, returns for Part 2 to share the night everything changed: her own diagnosis at age 39. A lifelong runner, healthy eater, and non-smoker with negative genetic testing, Karen was months away from her first routine mammogram when a quiet July evening—and a simple itch—led to a life-altering discovery.
In this episode of Life on Pause, Karen reflects on what it meant to go from provider to patient overnight, how she navigated treatment decisions with insider knowledge, and the choices that led her to a double mastectomy. She also explains the surprise of finding additional invasive lobular carcinoma on final pathology, why early detection matters, and how financial and systemic barriers make diagnostic care harder for many women. Finally, she shares how her diagnosis deepens her work with patients, her approach to reconstruction and nipple tattooing access, and her message about self-advocacy: listen to your body, and keep asking until you’re heard.
Topics Covered:
- The July 29th discovery and immediate clinical next steps
- Hearing “you have breast cancer” while in clinic
- When and why she shares her story with patients
- Choosing surgery: lumpectomy vs mastectomy vs bilateral mastectomy
- Final pathology: invasive ductal + invasive lobular carcinoma
- Support systems that actually help (and how friends can show up)
- Boundaries at work: being a patient vs being a provider
- Early detection, fear, and cost barriers (screening vs diagnostic)
- Reconstruction and expanding access to nipple tattooing in-house
- “Still the same mom”: confronting stigma and redefining survivorship
About Life on Pause:
Life on Pause is a podcast for and by young adults with cancer. Produced by Penn State Health’s AYA Oncology Program, each episode is rooted in honest storytelling and community connection. Content is reviewed by medical and psychosocial experts for accuracy and care.
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